EcoRenovator - View Single Post - Ground loop pipes above ground for winter?

Sccoupe · 10-26-17, 03:48 PM

The pipes for stage one are now safely burried for the winter and also antifreeze added. Below are the poly pipes going into a small crawl space. They come in though 4" pvc, the light stuff, not sch40. The first two ton come in though the top pipes with out and back separated. The bottom two pipes run out to where drilling will begin again in the spring and then I dont have to dig this part of the yard up to the house again, just push the pipes though. All burried connections are fused. I glued 3/4 threaded connectors together for a poly barb to PEX adapter. Inside is all PEX. Only one ton is plumbed, the other ton is just plugged for now.

Here is the inside works. A 7 gallon poly tank holds it all. The pump is for a one ton unit installed above my garage. Out of the tank to the pump, blue pipe to the heat pump, red pipe back from the pump and into the output manifold on the right, to the ground, back from the ground into the input manifold on the left, then back to the tank. Valves everywhere! The manifolds are 1-1/4 PVC tee's with threaded/glued PEX adapters. The short blue pipe between manifolds is temperary to help flush any air to the tank, it stays closed normally. The real short blue hose on the right and the black hose on the left was used to hook up the house water to flush one of the loops that was air locked. Isolated that loop with the valves and pushed the air out. Its all flowing good through two, 1/2 ton loops for now.

Should time allow this winter, I'll convert a portable, one ton, two pipe heat pump to geothermal (does heat and a/c), hook up the other ton of loop and run it wide open the rest of the winter to help the less efficient air source heat pump that runs the main house.

10-26-17, 03:48 PM	#7
Sccoupe Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: May 2017 Location: PA Posts: 43 Thanks: 4 Thanked 16 Times in 8 Posts	The pipes for stage one are now safely burried for the winter and also antifreeze added. Below are the poly pipes going into a small crawl space. They come in though 4" pvc, the light stuff, not sch40. The first two ton come in though the top pipes with out and back separated. The bottom two pipes run out to where drilling will begin again in the spring and then I dont have to dig this part of the yard up to the house again, just push the pipes though. All burried connections are fused. I glued 3/4 threaded connectors together for a poly barb to PEX adapter. Inside is all PEX. Only one ton is plumbed, the other ton is just plugged for now. Here is the inside works. A 7 gallon poly tank holds it all. The pump is for a one ton unit installed above my garage. Out of the tank to the pump, blue pipe to the heat pump, red pipe back from the pump and into the output manifold on the right, to the ground, back from the ground into the input manifold on the left, then back to the tank. Valves everywhere! The manifolds are 1-1/4 PVC tee's with threaded/glued PEX adapters. The short blue pipe between manifolds is temperary to help flush any air to the tank, it stays closed normally. The real short blue hose on the right and the black hose on the left was used to hook up the house water to flush one of the loops that was air locked. Isolated that loop with the valves and pushed the air out. Its all flowing good through two, 1/2 ton loops for now. Should time allow this winter, I'll convert a portable, one ton, two pipe heat pump to geothermal (does heat and a/c), hook up the other ton of loop and run it wide open the rest of the winter to help the less efficient air source heat pump that runs the main house.